Iran executions are 'state sanctioned killing' - UN rights chief

FILE PHOTO: Newly appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk attends a news conference at Palais Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. human rights chief said that the death penalty was being weaponised by Iran's government to strike fear into the population and stamp out dissent, saying the executions amounted to "state sanctioned killing".

"The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights – such as those participating in or organizing demonstrations - amounts to state sanctioned killing," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said, adding the executions violated international human rights law.